LOS ANGELES — "A bunch of misfit toys." That’s how MojoHost founder Brad Mitchell described himself and his industry peers at the 2025 XBIZ Honors ceremony at Hollywood’s Kimpton Everly Hotel. Everyone cheered in agreement. Frankly, they wouldn’t have it any other way.
Decked to the nines in their finest evening wear, the online industry’s elite gathered Wednesday night to celebrate their colleagues, throw back a few drinks, and toast to the future. Judging by the mood in the room, the community remains as resilient as ever.
Between a raft of age verification laws designed to shutter adult sites, the wildfires that ravaged parts of Los Angeles, and potential threats looming from the incoming Trump administration, the industry has been under siege lately — but it is still standing, and rather than standing still, it’s fighting back.
It was fitting, then, that industry attorney Corey Silverstein was named Community Figure of the Year, an award that he quickly dedicated to Free Speech Coalition Executive Director Alison Boden, who had just flown in from Washington, where the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in the FSC-led challenge to Texas’ age verification law.
The ceremony was hosted by Playboy’s Holly Ruprecht and multi-award-winning star Ana Foxxx, who was also nominated for Creator Brand Ambassador of the Year for her work with Playboy Plus. Foxxx is also up for five XMAs this year.
The contrast between Ruprecht — a self-described “butch lesbian” with pink hair and a killer sense of humor — and statuesque performer Foxxx, in a tux-style outfit that showed off her booty cheeks, helped make the co-hosts a fantastic comedy duo.
After a warm welcome from XBIZ founder Alec Helmy, followed by brief words from XBIZ execs Moe Helmy and Leah Mahi, Ruprecht and Foxxx got the show underway, kicking off a steady stream of presenters, most of whom preferred to read the nominees’ first names off of a teleprompter rather than risk butchering their last names.
One of the night’s early winners was an easy name to pronounce, thankfully, as Fleshlight’s Jasmine James received the award for Business Development Exec of the Year from Chaturbate’s Shirley Lara.
“I’m so happy about this,” said James. “I really love this industry and I love my clients. I’ve been doing this for a long time, so it’s great to be recognized!”
One of the evening’s most emotional winners was Leah Koons of Fansly, who took home the award for Marketing Executive of the Year. Koons said she was overwhelmed by the sudden burst of attention when all eyes turned to her as she made her way to the stage.
“This is the first award I’ve won, and my Dad would be so pissed!” Koons joked.
“I don’t know how far I would have gotten in this industry without the unwavering support of everyone I’ve met in this space, who just go so hard for each other,” Koons said with great sincerity. “Thank you to everyone who has let me bounce terrible ideas off them.”
Next, CAM4 exec Andra Chirnogeanu, who hosted last year’s ceremony, took the stage. Luminous in a white dress, she handed out the awards for Merchant Services Payment Company of the Year, which went to NETbilling, and Alternative Payment Services Company of the Year, which went to CentroBill.
Grooby rep Kristel Penn, who spent the evening sitting next to performer Bea York, then took the stage to present the award for Brand Ambassador of the Year, which went to Aylo exec Freedom Taylor.
Accepting the award on Taylor’s behalf was Aylo’s Solomon Friedman, the Canadian lawyer and ordained rabbi who co-founded Ethical Capital Partners, which owns Aylo and Pornhub.
“I know this means a lot to Freedom and to the company,” Friedman said.
“Freedom always wins!” declared Ruprecht.
Friedman soon returned to the stage, this time to accept the Progressive Leadership Award on behalf of Aylo's head of production, Ryan Hogan.
“I’m going to need a checked bag to get all this hardware back to Montreal!” quipped Friedman.
Then, famed industry photographer and podcast host Holly Randall took the stage to present the award for Web Services Company of the Year, which went to MojoHost.
“This is my 25th year in the industry and I love what I do, and I appreciate all of you,” said MojoHost founder Brad Mitchell.
One of the loudest rounds of applause rang out shortly thereafter, when Streamate’s Liz Rekevics won the Executive Leadership Award. Rekevics said she was “totally surprised” by the honor and moved by the support of her peers.
Once again, Friedman returned to the stage, though this time, his appearance was in the script.
“This was one of the places I never expected to be when I started law school 19 years ago,” Friedman joked, before presenting the award for Team Manager of the Year to Julia B of BongaCams.
Julia, who has been in adult for nearly a decade, told the crowd, “I was totally not expecting this. It must mean that I’m doing something right!”
Then it was Silverstein and Boden’s night to shine.
Upon accepting the award for Community Figure of the Year, Silverstein noted that he usually has something funny to say, but this time out he went in a different direction. Dedicating the award to Boden, he said, “It has been a tremendously stressful couple of years, and we’ve got some tough times ahead, but Alison, you’re my hero of the year.”
It was a heartfelt moment that garnered a standing ovation from the audience, with Boden taking the stage to join Silverstein.
“Look, I don’t deserve this award, but what I will tell you is that I wouldn’t and couldn’t be up here doing this if it weren’t for all of you,” said Boden.
Up next was the award for Paysite Company of the Year, which went to YourPaysitePartner. Company founder and architect Kenny B graciously accepted the trophy.
Olivier of FansRevenue and director Paulita Pappel of Lustery then took the stage to present the awards for Premium Cam Site of the Year, which went to Streamate, and Paysite of the Year, which went to Adult Time.
They were followed by Jasmine James and director Siouxsie Q, who presented the award for Creator Brand Ambassador of the Year to Vicki Chase of Vixen Media Group, and Creator Businessperson of the Year to Lauren Phillips of Adult Time.
Ruprecht joked that Phillips couldn’t make it to the stage because she had a DP scene to film on Thursday, which got a chuckle out of the room — the rare one whose inhabitants are well-versed in such activity.
The entire crowd was still buzzing from XBIZ’s wild Winter Wonderland party at the Hollywood hotspot Ballet on Tuesday night. The evening featured entertainment from DJ Carter Cruise and saw stars such as Sarah Arabic, Kendra Kole, Leana Lovings, Genny Rock, and Seth Gamble in attendance.
Gamble was in attendance again on Wednesday night for the XBIZ Honors, as Hentai.com was named Specialty Site of the Year and GroobyGirls.com named Trans Site of the Year. The latter award was accepted by Kristel Penn, who used the opportunity to plug the TransErotica Awards. Shortly thereafter, FeetFix walked away with the award for Emerging Web Brand of the Year.
The award for Businessperson of the Year went to Segpay’s Cathy Beardsley, who declared herself a proud member of the Free Speech Coalition, while the FSC’s Advocacy Award went to gay performer Derek Kage, who promised, “I will fight as hard as I possibly can for this industry, which has given me a wonderful life.”
Leya Tanit of Pineapple Support then presented a Pineapple Award to Savannah Sly of the New Moon Network, where Sly advocates for the human rights of sex workers, having identified as one since she was 18 years old.
Sly thanked fellow nominee Siouxsie Q for radicalizing her as a young sex worker, as well as Pineapple Support, the Cupcake Girls, and SWOP Behind Bars for their community advocacy.
Megan Stokes of NMG Management presented one of the night’s top honors, the award for WIA Woman of the Year, to Melrose Michaels, who kept her acceptance speech short and sweet.
The other major award of the night was the ASACP Award, which is presented to those whose efforts stand head and shoulders above others in the industry in respect to its mission.
This year’s award was presented to Brad Mitchell of MojoHost.
“I’m very honored, as this is one of those awards that means the most to me,” said Mitchell, who sits on the board of ASACP.
Mitchell joined the organization 15 years ago, and he said that today, MojoHost contributes as much as it can to support the organization's mission, but he called on his peers — many of whom have directly benefited from that mission — to increase their funding if and when possible.
“Less than 100 companies keep ASACP going, and they put in some big numbers,” he exhorted his peers. “So I ask all of you to ask yourselves: ‘What are you doing for the rest of the industry?’”
With that rallying cry, Ruprecht and Foxxx bade farewell to the crowd and sent everyone off with a night full of memories, even amid challenging times for Los Angeles and the adult industry.
